Electronic devices often display or present information that is derived or created by the device. For example, user prompts for inputs, various operational status information, or other information, are displayed on a device's alphanumeric or graphical display. Devices, particularly portable electronic devices, sometimes operate in bright ambient light conditions that can include operations in direct sunlight. Electronic displays, particularly graphical electronic displays adapted to present graphical or text information in different fonts, often utilize backlit Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLEDs), or other technologies that generally produce images that lack a sufficient contrast to make reading of the image easy or even possible when the display is illuminated by bright ambient light, such as by direct sunlight. Some display technologies add design features to the display hardware itself to provide improved readability when the display is illuminated by bright ambient light, such as direct sunlight, but these displays generally have greater design complexity and thereby have increased cost or manufacturing complexity relative to using conventional display hardware.
Therefore, the displaying information on a conventional display is limited by the effect of bright ambient light on the display.